Emma-Jean Thackray – Oddball

      An extraordinary journey through loss...

      24 · 04 · 2025

      While the remarkable music of ‘Weirdo’ speaks volumes, it’s also important to highlight its creator’s exceptional background. Emma-Jean Thackray, a neurodivergent woman from a working-class family in Yorkshire—a rare origin story in jazz—has emerged as one of the UK’s most fascinating and talented nu jazz composers. In 2023, she experienced the unimaginable and sudden loss of her partner. ‘Weirdo’, which she wrote, arranged, performed, and produced entirely by herself at home, is her way of grappling with this trauma.

      This may sound heavy, but one of the most striking aspects of ‘Weirdo’ is its collection of upbeat and funky music. Thackray has created an even more impressive blend of genres than in her previous album (2021’s brilliant ‘Yellow’), exploring jazz, hip-hop, p-funk, house, and psych rock. While this 19-track epic boasts a vibrant and colorful musical range, its remarkably vulnerable and often painfully sad lyrics create an intriguing contrast, lending ‘Weirdo’ significant emotional depth.

      A look at the track titles reveals the emotional landscape of the album. Titles like ‘Wanna Die’, ‘What Is The Point’, and ‘Save Me’ reflect the numbness of depression. Over a minimal drum machine beat and bright keys, ‘Staring At The Wall’ finds Thackray expressing feelings of being "consumed with the thought of you," attempting to manage "one day at a time," while ‘Let Me Sleep’ captures the physical discomfort of emotional pain, stating “my bones ache,” and “my legs shake.” However, towards the end of ‘Weirdo’, tracks like ‘It’s Okay’ and ‘Thank You For The Day’ cautiously imply an arc of acceptance in Thackray's grief, with the latter song offering profound metaphysical reflections: “trusting that there is no life and death/for never ending, I say thank you for the day.”

      Despite its emotional exploration, Thackray’s musical direction remains impressively coherent. Even with the diverse genres interwoven, these 19 tracks possess an airy, spacious quality. There’s a sense of a storm brewing within them, a strong desire for clear lucidity that makes it feel as if we are standing beside Thackray while she records the jazzy piano chords of ‘Tofu’, the shuffling drums of ‘Maybe Nowhere’, and the rich percussion of ‘Remedy’. References to household items like walls and TVs, alongside the unpredictable flow of time, further enhance this feeling of striking minimalism.

      The effervescent funk and poignant emotions of ‘Weirdo’ create a genuinely unique blend. Its mix of beautiful jazz-funk and heart-wrenching lyrics is hard to forget. While there’s light at the end of the tunnel (with the closer, ‘Thank You For The Day,’ being truly transcendent), much of ‘Weirdo’ remains stark, intricately composed, and intimately connected to its creator, much like the photo gracing its cover.

      9/10

      Words: Tom Morgan

      Related: “I Just Needed To Live My Purpose” Emma-Jean Thackray Interviewed

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